Water Maiden
by MadCastle
Summary: Water Maidens are young children who are said to bring the drought to an end. These children have lowered in number making them very valuable. izaya is one of these children and because of that Samurai have attacked his only home. Shizaya.
1. Chapter 1

Hello new story, couldn't done without Mxn1fan~. She's my Beta 'The best' may I add~ Enjoy

~=Water_Maiden=~

Izaya covered his delicate ears from the horrid screams outside. Not too long ago, he was doing his Kusemai lessons with his mother when Daiki, one of the Shrines Samurai, had dashed in, telling them that it was not safe and that they needed to go. Immediately, he was dragged by his wrist to one of the storage rooms at the far east of the Shrine. There, Daiki had hidden him in a small closet telling him to not move or make a sound until he came back.

A few hours had passed and there was still no sign of him being back. No one was there to keep him company and assure his safety, which left Izaya alone and scared. Sniffling quietly to himself, he rubbed the salty tears away with the sleeves of his pure white suikan. He wished that the Samurai would come back and take him away from the this horrid place.

"AHHHH!"

Tears slid down his cheeks at the multiple cries of pain from outside. 'He can't leave me here! Not by myself!' His thoughts were cut off by sound of the door being slammed open. Hasty sounds of clogs clanked against the floorboards, along with a booming voice.

"It's in here boys, I can feel it!"

The voice was gruff, but it had an intimidating tone, giving Izaya the idea that he was the commander.

"Search every single shelf, crate, and pot in this room! We must find it!"

At his command, the intruders started searching the place for 'it'. He huddled in the corner, away from the doors of the closet. Their shadows moved across the floor, as he peeked through a small crack in the wood. Putting his hand over his mouth, he began to shake violently, his fear growing as each second passed. The whole storage was ruined, shelves were knocked over, crates were opened, and pieces of broken pots were scattered on the floor. He turned away from the crack and buried his head in his knees. Their search was interrupted by a small voice, catching their leader's attention.

"Avrima, sir, there seems to be another group of Samurai heading towards this direction."

"What do I care, we'll just kill them on sight!"

"But sir... It's the _Buraddihōkusu._"

The last few words were whispered frantically. All movement had stopped abruptly in the room, suspense filling the air. Whoever the 'Buraddihōkusu' are, they were probably dangerous, telling from their reactions. Clearing his throat, the leader spoke.

"It seems that our search has been cut short, men. Those damn Samurai are heading this way. Move out!"

Surprisingly, they didn't make a single sound as they left, leaving him to wonder if they were just faking their exit or not. He cautiously opened the closet doors, not making a sound. Popping his head out, he observed the room for any other human being that could be hiding. He crawled out slowly, slightly shivering from what had happened. Shuffling quietly, he stepped towards the doors and inhaled deeply.

He slid it open, which revealed him a sickening scene. Countless bodies of men, women, and children laid scattered on the ground, as their blood surrounded them like a pool. Izaya felt a wave of nausea come over him, holding himself up against the doors of the storage room. He used his other hand to cover his mouth, preventing himself from puking.

Did the blood curdling screams come from these innocent people?

Izaya found it harder and harder not to faint with the idea that this could've been him if Daiki had not brought him in the storage room. Now that Izaya was thinking about the man, he surely had to find him. The Samurai might be with his mother somewhere...

Pulling himself straight, he stepped around the bodies trying his best not to step on them or their blood. Managing his way through, he walked into a hall where the floors were painted a dull red. One side included sliding doors, that led to smaller rooms where some of the priest-in-training would practice. On the other side, it showed the outdoors. Quickly, Izaya ran through the halls with a sharp turn for every corner, until he reached a path that led to the main area of the shrine. Pushing through a large pair of decorated mahogany doors, he stepped out to an open bridge that crossed over a small, flowing stream.

Some parts of the bridge were burnt and turned to ashes, though not enough to completely disable him from crossing. Walking carefully across the bridge, another pair of large doors appeared. Pushing them open, they made a hollow groan. Rays of moonlight slowly lit up the darkness of the room. A rush of putrid stench assaulted Izaya's nose. In the middle of the floor laid two bodies. Taking a timid step closer, he discovered that they were the bodies of Daiki... and his mother. Wide-eyed, he dropped to his knees and shook his mother's shoulders.

"Hahaoya?" He whispered meekly. His eyes began to mist over with salty tears.

"No! No! No! Please! Not Hahaoya..."

He ceased from shaking his mother's frail body and grasped her hand in his. Bringing it to his cheek, he could feel how cold her skin was. Questions started forming in his head, unconsciously tightening his hold on his mother.

Why? Why had they come to the shrine? Izaya's face contorted with frustration. They had murdered so many people that he had known ever since he lived here. And for what? To not find anything in the end. To run away like cowards when they heard of another group coming this way. A sudden realization dawned on the boy. What was he to do, now that he was alone? The last thing he would ever want is loneliness.

Looking back at his mother, he saw that there was no chance of her being alive. He then turned his attention to Daiki, whose sword laid inches away from his hands. This man, for he was sure, had tried his best protecting his mother. Izaya knew there wasn't a single thing that he wouldn't do to protect her.

The sound of footsteps came closer to him. His body began to stiffen up at the memory of the men who were at the storage room. He tried to decide whether or not it would be wise to stay and risk his life, since he couldn't stand the idea of leaving his mother behind. As the men neared closer, Izaya came to a conclusion and took the golden necklace that his mother wore. In the center of the necklace was a round gem the size of a marble, the color of ultramarine.

He placed it in the pocket of oguchi, and stood up shakily. Walking to where Daiki was sprawled, he bent down and took his sword. "Forgive me for taking your symbol as a Samurai away from you." With a small prayer for his Mother and Daiki, he made an exit through the small round window at the back.

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	2. Neep Deep

Another Chapter~ And Lovely Reviewer~ Thanks to my Beta again~*hearts*

How long had he been running?

The sun was starting to set and it was getting harder and harder for Izaya to use his vision. He had ran out to a field behind the shrine in hopes of getting away from the bloody massacre. In the field, the grass was high enough to hide his body, but was also difficult for him to see where exactly he was going. Deciding that he had ran far enough, he decreased his speed, to the point of jogging slowly. Up ahead of him was a forest where a _Shito Shrine_ was built for villagers to come and pray. Ignoring his burning lungs and aching feet, he picked up his pace and started running again. With caution, he jumped over logs, running over fallen leaves and broken twigs, to avoid getting injuries that might slow him down. Finally, he found two small statues that were placed upon old stones, golden foxes sitting down.

Between them, was the pathway to the stone block where people would deposit their money and pray. He took each step towards it slowly and gracefully, sitting beside it. Fortunately he was shaded by the roof of the shrine. Sighing, he brought his knees up to his chest, resting his head on top of them. He turned his head to where the cold metal weapon laid. He grabbed it and tilted it to the angle of the sun, reflecting its light. He shakily put down the sword and cried again. Never did he think something like this, would happen to him.

Before the shrine was destroyed, he and his mother would do everything together. Whether it would be helping out the priests, playing with children, or just causing mischief. He loved her so much. She didn't berate him when he did anything wrong because she usually wanted in on the trouble herself. Daiki, however, was the exact opposite. He didn't enjoy seeing Izaya cause trouble. He would always tell him that he would bring mockery to the shrine. Of course, Izaya never listened and kept continuing. He knew, although the samurai didn't want to admit it, that he found the things he and his mother would do, amusing. He smiled a little from the memories. It was something that he would do, at times when he was down and all alone.

By now, the sun had already gone, the moon taking its place. The forest was dark. The sound of crickets became louder, now that he stopped thinking about his past. It gave him something to listen to. He laid on his side, placing the sword close to him, just in case he gets abducted or jumped. Tucking his hands back into his sleeves in an attempt to keep himself warm, he curled his body and fell asleep.

* * *

The morning rays shone throughout the forest, making it glimmer like god. It made the forest more alive and beautiful, yet at the same time, more dangerous and deadly. Izaya's eyelids fluttered slowly and opened. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

"It's already morning huh?"

Growl...

The sound came from his empty stomach.

"I need to find something to eat. I'm so hungry..."

Unfortunately, he was in the middle of nowhere, with no idea of where to start looking for food. Common sense told him that he couldn't just pick random berries and eat them. They could be poisoned, and eating them would lead him to his death. He would die all alone with no one beside him. The image made him shiver.

Setting out with that in mind, Izaya headed down the path to look for something safe to eat. He, at first, stayed around the area of the prayer shrine, in case he gets lost. But there was nothing sight that he could possibly eat. Growling in frustration, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"If there's nothing here, then that means that I have to go deeper into the forest."

Looking further in front of him, he felt a small shiver down his spine. It wasn't that he was scared... Okay, maybe he was scared, but what if he got lost and couldn't find his way back? That was another thing that he wouldn't want to happen to him. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his brain. Maybe every so often as he walked, he could mark a tree he passes and use it to lead him back to the shrine. Taking his sword, he started walking and stopped at a tree, slashing it. For every five minutes he would slash a tree he passed by, and it was working, surprisingly.

Although, there was still no food. He had found a small creature handling bushes of berries with others of his kind. He thought of taking some berries, but the smell they gave off had him retching before he could even try. Another problem had arose when he came across a tree that had bananas hanging down from it. However, the tree had a guest that wasn't very kind on sharing its fruits with Izaya, which had him head off away quicker than you can blink.

Fed up with looking for food, he sat down on a large rock, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. He remembered the time when one of the priests told him that he should appreciate what he has because once it's gone, it's gone. He had never thought that he would ever find himself in the kind of situation he's in right now.

The sound of the crunching of leaves behind him had caused him to freeze. His face drained of every color. Not too far behind him, was a black bear, and this one's a mother. Izaya shot up from where he sat, and by the looks of it, the bear and her cubs had already recognized his presence. Rising on its hind legs, she roared angrily then started running towards him. Getting up at lightning speed, he ran for his dear life. Dodging branches and loose roots, he tried to outrun the bear but it was faster, running on its four legs with him and his two.

"IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

There was no way that he was going to die from bears, just for being exhausted from trying to find food.

The cool feeling of the necklace around his neck reminded him that he had to live on, for he was the sole survivor of his village. He had to live for the people who did not. With this newly found determination, he increased his speed. The sound of the bears' stomps began to drift away. He saw a small opening of light from a distance, but as he got closer, he recognized it as the exit of the forest. Pushing himself a little faster, he successfully escaped from the hellhole.

Reaching a safe distance from the forest, he turned around and took a peek of the bears that chased him. She was there, with her cubs, growling at him before turning away and disappearing into the forest.

"Thank god... that was... over. There's no way... I was going to be bear meat."

He collapsed on his back and laid on the dirt floor. Looking up at the sky, he noticed how it was clear of any clouds. His stomach growled yet again in hunger.

"Oh quiet, you..."

Izaya took a deep breath and let it out. Outside of the forest, there were less trees but he could still get lost. He stood up and stretched. There was a faint sweet smell that roamed the area.

Wait a minute... Sweet?

Sniffing the air much like an animal would do, he tried to track it down. It seemed that it came from where the pathway would lead. Following it, he got another whiff of the sweet scent. He headed further away from the forest, as the ground beneath his feet became less grassy and more rocky. Soon, it because more like sand and his feet sunk in it a few times, by an inch or two. The sweet smell grew stronger and stronger, until he found himself in front of a small wooden fence, up to his waist. Behind that fence was a tall tree, that was bearing plump ripe peaches. A smile broke on Izaya's small face. He found food!

He was amazed that it was his nose that had brought him here, it must have been the starvation driving his senses crazy. Not wasting any time, he carefully climbed over the fence. Hurrying to the tree, he reached up for an peach. Picking it, he pressed it to his lips and took a bite. The peach was surprisingly cool, even from being out in the sun all day.

He saw that there was plenty more of peaches hanging down from the tree, enough for him to last a few weeks.

"I should take a few more, just in case."

Picking it one by one, he tucked them in his oguchi. By the time he was done, he was satisfied by the amount of peaches he picked. He turned around and started to walk away.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Izaya let out a squeak, then turned around slowly, seeing the one who had caught him. It wasn't an angry man but a boy, that looked about the same age as him. He seemed taller by a couple of inches, with chestnut colored hair and brown eyes. Analyzing the boy up and down, he also noticed that he was wearing a cotton kimono that was very old-looking.

"I said, what do you think you're doing?"

He yelped when the boy raised what seemed to be a wooden stick a his chest.

"I-I wasn't doing anything."

"You're lying! I saw you steal our peaches! We worked hard for those!"

"I'm sorry! I was just-"

"What's going on out here?!"

Both Izaya and the boy turned their heads to where the booming voice came from. It was a man in his mid 20's, with features similar to the boy next to him. His father maybe?

"Dad! He was stealing our peaches!"

He pointed an angry finger at him. Izaya backed away from the boy's loud voice. The man who was now confirmed of his son's news, stared at him with a pinning stare. With his intimidating aura, he stepped closer to him.

"Is that true? Were you really stealing those peaches?"

In reply, he hung his head low in shame. He just wanted something to eat! Why were they being so cruel?

"Shizuo, go to your mother right now."

"But what about-"

"Your mother, Shizuo. Go."

Shizuo gave him one more glare before running off to the back entrance of their house, which he didn't seem to notice. This tree was in their backyard, which was probably why there was a fence... Rough hands pulling up his chin broke his chain of thoughts.

"This tree is one of the few fruit bearing trees we have left in this family. Tell me, why did you take the peaches? I deserve to know. No?"

Sniffling, he held the upcoming tears from falling.

"I was hungry... That's all."

Unfortunately, he couldn't hold it in much longer and broke into a full wail of tears which streamed down his face like a waterfall. The man gave him a soft smile, then with his sleeves, rubbed his salty tears away.

"It's alright. Come with me. Maybe we can give you something else that will fill you up better than those peaches."

He held his hands out for Izaya to take. Hesitating for a second, he looked up at him and took his hands.

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